iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

WIP Wednesday because I finally started working on this again and actually made progress on the sky and mountains #embroidery

Photo of an in-progress embroidery thread painting of a dragon destroying a castle. Most of the piece is stitched with simple, patchy colors, but the sky and mountains in the background are filled out with detail.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

The Cave of Ten Thousand Gods #art #tgcf #HeavenOfficial’sBlessing #HuaCheng #hualian

A digital painting of Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing, during his time carving statues in the cave of the 10,000 gods in Mount Tonglu. He sits in the lap of one of his statues, a noble-looking Xie Lian holding a sword and looking off into the distance, at ease. Hua Cheng leans back against the statue’s arm with his face turned longingly toward Xie Lian’s. Hua Cheng’s empty right eye socket is on full display, bruised and still bleeding. The statue is slightly larger than life, making Hua Cheng look young and small in its cold embrace.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Ship-Sinking Black Water #tgcf #darkart #HeavenOfficial’sBlessing #mxtx (gore cw)

A digital painting of Black Water/He Xuan from Heaven Official's Blessing. He stands on still waters, backlit by an eerie setting sun, with his head tilted at an unnatural angle. He holds Shi Wudu's decapitated head in one hand by the hair, and is covered in blood spatter. Much of his face is hidden by his hair, but a single, uncannily wide and round eye stares directly at the viewer.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

It’s apparently world embroidery day (which is a thing I found out about thirty seconds ago), so I’ll share two pieces: the first embroidery I ever did (from a kit, with added text because I couldn’t help myself) and my favorite piece I’ve done so far. #embroidery #fiberarts

A piece of fabric with several clumsily embroidered flowers, surrounded by the text “Live, Laugh, Punch Nazis” in cursive.

An embroidery hoop featuring a thread painting of a young woman kneeling on a floor made of black ooze. Dozens of red hands emerge from the ooze to grasp at her, forcing her to arch her back painfully. Despite that, her heart appears to be glowing in her chest, and her outstretched hand emits a burst of light that illuminates the scene.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Artist! Quote with your evil art (for a given definition of evil, I suppose)

A digital painting of a woman luxuriously lounging on a chaise, glancing toward the viewer. She wears a fashionable but skimpy white chiffon outfit that is splattered with blood, and holds in her hand a heavy gold chain that matches her jewelry. The chain leads behind her in the shadows, connected to the collar of an elephant-sized wolf looming in the darkness. The wolf is snarling with blood and viscera dripping from its mouth, ready to pounce, and in the foreground a hand reaches out as if the viewer themself is begging to be spared.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

did some art of this kid, hope he’s doing ok

A simple black and white drawing of a skater kid flipping someone off. His skateboard has Fuck Ice stamped on the back.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Video because the photo doesn’t quite capture the shininess.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

“Polar Bear in a Snowstorm” Embroidery thread painting. #embroidery #threadpainting #polarbear #art

A small embroidery hoop featuring a thread painting of a polar bear. The majority of the hoop is embroidered with white, so that only the direction of the stitches gives the outline of the bear, with some pale blue for the shadows and dark black for the eyes, nose, and mouth.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

I love this idea! I do digital art as well, but today I’ll share just embroidery because it’s a skill I picked up while bedridden from ME. It takes that much longer to get pieces out (bright lights my beloathed), but I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish through the worst years of my life.

An embroidery hoop featuring a thread painting of a pair of elegant hands colored in shades of blue. Above the hands are magical sparks that emit swirling purple smoke to fill the hoop.

An embroidery hoop featuring a full coverage thread painting portrait of a young black trans person. They are backlit by vibrant blue and red light as they hug themselves with a soft smile. They are shirtless, and their top surgery scars glow with metallic blue thread.

An embroidery hoop featuring a thread painting of an eerie lighthouse in the middle of rough and stormy seas. In the foreground, a woman stands on the rocks with a lantern raised, trying to see the tiny figure silhouetted in the lighthouse’s doorway.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Thanks for the share! My only dragon is currently a WIP, but can I interest you in some Creatures™️ for these trying times? (ko-fi.com/zelhowland)

A digital painting of a skeletal monster with far too many teeth and disproportionately long fingers. The monster’s skull is eyeless, but a collection of green eyes swirls around the monster’s whole body, most of them fixed on the viewer.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Thanks for hosting! I only have two watery pieces to share, but I am thinking about doing something for mermay and all these shares are giving me ideas…

A digital painting of a woman dancing against an art nouveau stylized backdrop of the sea. The focus of the painting is on the woman’s chiffon dress drifting through the water, and the movement of her hair and body and a school of fish swims around her.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Thank you for hosting! I’m still very proud of my two most recent pieces so I’ll keep spamming them

A digital painting of a dark forest. A woman, pale with white hair and lightning-like marks glowing on her skin, kneels at the center of the image. Her hands are pressed against the roots of a nearby tree, and from them burst frost and spikes of glowing ice. The ice races up the tree to coat the leaves, many of which are now dead and falling, in contrast to the greenery around them. Two squirrels and a deer flee from her, and a rook leaps from the branch, barely avoiding being frozen in place. The woman smiles beatifically at her work.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

If you see this, post your painting/drawing of a dragon 🐲 This guy is still an early stages WIP, but he’s the only dragon I’ve got at the moment! #embroidery #wip

A photo of a stretched piece of black cotton featuring a scene of a western-style dragon attacking a castle. The piece is sketched in white pen, and so far the sky and much of the dragon have been patchily filled in with embroidery.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Thanks for hosting! I’m Zel, I do a lot of spooky digital art as well as embroidery thread painting!

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Rain is dangerous if you’re a creature made of dust! #dreamwrought

Text reading: To her credit, Rava walked faster now. Galvanized by the storm. Ophelia followed after. Slowed by the spatter of rain. She made herself solid. As solid as possible. Made her outer layers of dust into a shield. As if the rain were no more dangerous than a blood vessel leading her particles toward a doomed human heart.

A vain attempt. The raindrops had the force of gravity pelting them down. They carved through her protective layers. Scraped and dragged them down in painful streaks. A raindrop landed on her brow. Dripped into her eye. Blurred her vision. She followed the tug of the tether. Half-blind now.

Her foot slipped on the unstable slope. Dropped into a shallow puddle. She hissed, yanked it out instantly. Some of the surface layer scraped off into the water. Left muddy footprints behind as she limped forward. Particles of herself getting torn off with every step. But she couldn’t float anymore to protect them. The water weighed her down. The shackles weighed her down. They were beginning to sink through her wrists. Too much water gathered beneath them.

“There,” Rava said. Ophelia couldn’t see where she pointed. Only followed where she led.

The rain became heavier. A steady patter of raindrops rather than random spitting gusts. Ophelia’s soaked foot caught on a stone. She stumbled again. This time, Rava caught her elbow.

“Just a little further—” she said.

The storm broke. Rain poured from the sky.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I have three styles that I tend to default to: full digital paintings, digital sketches (mostly for character designs), and embroidery!

A digital sketch of a young woman pointing a glowing, magical revolver. She is wearing a long, well-tailored red and white coat over a black outfit with a high lacy collar and victorian heeled boots. Her hair is in a messy bun held together by a screwdriver and a pair of goggles, and she wears a magical glove on her free hand. Her expression is flat, and she has heavy bags under her eyes.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

If you see this, post your green #art 🌿🌱🍃

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Happy #transdayofvisibility! If you want to support a disabled trans artist, check out my ko-fi! ko-fi.com/zelhowland

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Sapphic saturday you say? here are my girls!

A digital painting of two women standing extremely close together in a near-embrace. One, Rava, has her back to the viewer, and looks at the other with a kind of fascinated contempt, one arm raised with flame emerging from her hand. The other woman, Ophelia, looks at Rava tenderly, her right hand cradling Rava’s neck, the other reaching behind Rava’s waist to steal the book tucked into her belt.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I use adorkastock ALL THE TIME, so I just grabbed the first one I could find the reference for!

One of adorkastock’s poses showing a woman kneeling on the ground.

A digital painting (using the previous pose) of a young woman with dark brown hair and warm brown skin kneeling in a desert. Her old fashioned shirt and trousers are dusty and blood-spattered, and her hair is almost fully escaped from her messy bun. Her head is bowed as though in defeat, but her fist punches the ground in white-knuckled determination.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

WIP answering the question of how a dragon would wear pants ☺️☺️

A photo of an unfinished embroidery piece depicting a dragon terrorizing a castle. The dragon is partly filled in with gold thread, which coincidentally makes it look like the dragon is wearing shiny gold pants on its back legs. Text over the top of the photo reads “Pants.” in a fancy cursive font.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Congrats, and thanks for hosting! I love making #darkart

A digital painting of a young woman collapsed on the ground, her face contorted with pain, and her hand reaching toward the viewer with her nails digging into the dirt. A knife is plunged into her forearm, but instead of blood, black ooze seeps from the wound and is splattered across her hand and face.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I’m constantly having to stop myself from painting or embroidering ONLY birds

An embroidery hoop with a thread painting of an eurasian magpie in mid flight, detailed with red and blue thread among the black and white.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

QRP with something silly and whimsical. ✨🥳✨ bug embroidered on a leaf

A photograph of a green leaf with a brightly colored beetle embroidered onto it.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Hi, Im Zel! I don’t do a ton of traditional painting anymore, but I do make lots of #embroidery art!

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Bonus for fandom people. If you recognize these hands you may be entitled to financial compensation.

A photo of an embroidery hoop with a thread painting of one hand holding out a cassette tape for the other to take. Everyone who has ever watched the CW’s Supernatural is taking psychic damage from this.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

show me your hands! I love drawing hands! they’re so weird and complicated. Shout out to my old sketchbook that was 90% sketches of my hands because they were the only reference I could easily access at work

A crop of a digital painting showing a ghostly woman hugging her knees, while the hand of another woman tenderly pulls hair away fr the ghost’s face.

A crop of a digital painting of two women in regency ball gowns and elbow length gloves clutching each other by the elbows.

A crop of a digital painting showing a hand clawing at the ground with a knife blade visible stuck in the arm behind it. The arm is seeping something far blacker and thicker than blood.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I haven’t done any wings recently, so these are rougher than I’d like, but please accept my humble offerings of digital and embroidery wings!

An impressionist digital painting of Princess Tutu dancing across a purple background while ghostly white wings stretch behind her.

An embroidery hoop featuring an embroidered luna moth with its wings spread.

An embroidery hoop with an embroidered magpie detailed with blue, red, and purple thread instead of simple black and white.

A digital painting of a hawk standing on a skull that’s partially buried. The painting is colored in blood red and yellow sand.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

QPR with an art piece you’re proud of! I challenged myself with this piece to put a lot of care into the background, and I think it really paid off. Plus, I love how her face came out, and the glowy effect around her body! #art

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

What an excellent theme! I’m Zel, I do fantasy and horror art, both digitally and in embroidery!

A digital painting of a fey-like child crouching within the branches of a tree. They are dressed in draped purple fabric with bare feet, and dark fog clings to the base of their cloak. Their skin is midnight black with gold speckles like freckles, or maybe stars, their ears split into strange curly tendrils that tangle in their afro, and their eyes are a bright, intense gold as they stare down through the foliage.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Thanks for the share! I only have one recent piece of a couple that isn’t under nda— here are my main characters from my upcoming novel having an enemies to lovers moment

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Finally started my next embroidery piece! I’ll try to remember to post updates on the WIP, since it’s probably going to take me over a year to actually finish this 😅

A photo of a stretched piece of black cotton with a sketch of a dragon attacking a castle done in white ink. The edges have a smattering of blue embroidery stitches along the border.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

what a cool idea!! QRP with your artwork and share what other passions/jobs/hobbies you have! ✨ I am (also!) (very slowly) learning 🇯🇵 to go with my spanish, I love figure skating (both doing and watching), I’ve been dancing for over 20 years (not pro, just love it!), and I’m a pretty good singer!

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Nonbinary long covid sufferer here! I’m a fantasy and horror author (works available here: duckprintspress.com/about-duck-p...) and I’m also beefing up my art portfolio with digital and embroidery pieces! My website is under construction, but in the meantime I’m on ko-fi: ko-fi.com/zelhowland

A digital painting of a middle aged woman in expensive clothes and elegant jewelry looking at the viewer. Her skin is ashen, her eyes are black across the irises and sclera, and thick black liquid oozes out of her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

That’s too bad about the convention, but hopefully all the art will help clear the air! Here’s an older series I did to celebrate the joy of dance, I hope that fits the bill

A digital painting of a young woman dancing on a dark brown background. Her green dress flows around her in response to her movement, and where her toe touches down, magical vines erupt from the ground.

A digital painting of a woman dancing against an art nouveau-style backdrop of the moon and stars. Her colorful chiffon dress floats around her with her movement, and her expression is beatific.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Wow, that piece is incredible! I’m Zel, I do both digital and embroidery art, usually dark fantasy!

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

New pinned post: Hi, I’m Zel Howland, an author and artist! I write, paint, and embroider lots of fantasy, often with a hint of horror. Several of my short stories and exclusive paintings are available at duckprintspress.com/about-duck-p...

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Finally finished this!!!! it’s taken a while year, but it feels timely that I got this done now… Plus a video, because a photo really doesn’t do this one justice.

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

“Still here”. (2025) Cotton and metallic embroidery thread on cotton fabric. #embroidery #threadpainting #transart #fiberarts #art

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Zel Howland @deathbycoldopen.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Awesome theme! I recently have been trying to refine my eye via pencil sketches, so here are a couple that turned out ok!

A shaded pencil sketch of Buffy and Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer standing face to face. Faith is smiling slightly as she slams a weapon into the wall next to Buffy’s face, and Buffy has her eyes closed and chin raised in defiance.

A pencil drawing of Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in BBC’s Pride and Prejudice from 1995. She is wearing a bonnet and looking off to the side with one eyebrow slightly raised.

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